11 And Abraham said, Because I said, Surely the fear of God is not in this place, and they will kill me for my wife's sake.
And it will come to pass when the Egyptians see thee, that they will say, She is his wife; and they will slay me, and save thee alive.
And the men of the place asked about his wife. And he said, She is my sister; for he feared to say, my wife, [saying to himself,] Lest the men of the place slay me on account of Rebecca -- because she was fair in countenance.
And Joseph said to them the third day, This do, that ye may live: I fear God.
But the former governors that were before me had been chargeable to the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, besides forty shekels of silver: even their servants bore rule over the people. But I did not so, because of the fear of God.
There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job; and this man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and abstained from evil.
And unto man he said, Lo, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding.
{To the chief Musician. [A Psalm] of the servant of Jehovah; of David.} The transgression of the wicked uttereth within my heart, There is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, [even] when his iniquity is found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are wickedness and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, to do good. He deviseth wickedness up on his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good: he abhorreth not evil.
The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Genesis 20
Commentary on Genesis 20 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 20
We are here returning to the story of Abraham; yet that part of it which is here recorded is not to his honour. The fairest marbles have their flaws, and, while there are spots in the sun, we must not expect any thing spotless under it. The scripture, it should be remarked, is impartial in relating the blemishes even of its most celebrated characters. We have here,
Gen 20:1-2
Here is,
Gen 20:3-7
It appears by this that God revealed himself by dreams (which evidenced themselves to be divine and supernatural) not only to his servants the prophets, but even to those who were out of the pale of the church and covenant; but then, usually, it was with some regard to God's own people as in Pharaoh's dream, to Joseph, in Nebuchadnezzar's, to Daniel, and here, in Abimelech's, to Abraham and Sarah, for he reproved this king for their sake, Ps. 105:14, 15.
Gen 20:8-13
Abimelech, being thus warned of God in a dream, takes the warning, and, as one truly afraid of sin and its consequences, he rises early to obey the directions given him.
Gen 20:14-18
Here is,